​​​​​Los Angeles, 1948. The soldiers are home, Japanese-Americans are freed from internment, but the city remains stuck in its divided past. Enter famed civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who enlists Los Angeles Tribune reporter Hisaye Yamamoto in a campaign to break the color line at the celebrated Bimini Baths. (Admission of non-whites is permitted only on "Mexican Day,” i.e., the day before the pools are to be emptied and cleaned.)

Blocking their entry is Zenobio Remedios, a war veteran who must weigh his conscience against job security. Rustin, believing he needs a white ally to break the standoff, tries to seduce disgraced art historian-turned-screenwriter Everett Maxwell to the cause. But Maxwell has his own history with Bimini Baths — and Zenobio — that will test the boundaries of change and forgiveness.​